In an apparatus with an arrangement in which a ball screw mechanism moves a slider along a ball screw, the moving range of the slider depends on the length of the ball screw. If the length of the ball screw is increased to widen the moving range of the slider, the natural frequency of the ball screw decreases, and the movement of the slider causes vibrations of the ball screw, thereby producing resonance. To solve this problem, it is proposed to support the ball screw at an intermediate portion in addition to the two end portions. For example, PTL1 discloses an apparatus in which intermediate support mechanisms for supporting a ball screw are respectively disposed at the two ends of a slider, and the intermediate mechanisms move with the movement of the slider by a power transmission mechanism including a wire and pulley. Furthermore, PTL2 discloses an apparatus in which support members are respectively arranged on the two sides of a slider (driven member) and two types of thread grooves are formed in a ball screw wherein the slider threadably engages with one type of thread groove and the support member threadably engages with the other type of thread groove.